A Witness to Adventure
by Chalayyy
Summary: Three years after helping save the world and returning home, Toph runs away once more in the name of adventure. But everyone knows adventures are more fun with a travel partner. Two best friends roaming the country? Shenanigans are inevitable. Tokka
1. To Ba Sing Se

**Hopefully I got Toph in-character.**

**Disclaimer: Everyone else has one, so I got one too. Hooray for conformism. I don't own Avatar. **

The silence of the midnight forest was usually only pervaded by the distant screech of a hog monkey with only a fluttering of wings and the hoot of a cat owl in response. Tonight, however, the calls of nature's creatures were accompanied by the gentle rhythmic thuds of bare feet making contact with the cool moist earth below them. Accompanying these calloused feet was the pale form of a young woman clothed in a dark green tunic and light brown traveling pants, matching the surrounding underbrush and earthen ground, with a single black bracelet around her left upper arm. Her delicate skin was made even paler by the crescent moon's thin light escaping through the many overhead branches and sparsely landing upon the girl's skin. She walked slowly, determinedly, as if with purpose, yet still softly enough to not disturb the quiet more than necessary. Her face bore a blank expression, with misty green eyes, half-drooped from boredom, unmoving and covered by sleek ebony bangs, giving her the appearance of one under the influences of sleep-walking, contrasting with her steady gait. The scarce amount of moonlight provided little aid for those whose ocular vision was tantamount to their ability to travel. But she wasn't thusly handicapped. No, she was better than that. Badgermoles taught her, years ago, the secret of seeing without one's eyes. Seismic sense has given her a better vision of the world than that of many others, despite being blind from birth. She is not hindered by total darkness. She can see past closed doors. She is the greatest Earthbender the world has ever known. She is Toph Bei Fong.

_Three years, _Toph repeats in her mind for the hundredth time that night._ It's been three stinkin' years._ And indeed it has been. Three years since the Phoenix King _of Getting His Butt Whooped_ was defeated by the Avatar. Three years since Toph has had any contact with her friends. Three years since Toph came back home to Gaoling to try and make her parents understand that she is no longer, and never has been, "some weak little girl that needs protection." And, because her parents are _more thick-headed than an armadillo lion and refuse to understand that I am the greatest earthbender _ever_ (I mean, come on, who else can freaking bend metal?),_ it's been three years since she's had any freedom. Well, until yesterday at least.

Her parents had been keeping her cooped up in the house except for important occasions which were, as her parents would so often point out, only befitting for a daughter of the Bei Fong family. _Apparently traveling the world with the Avatar and helping save the world isn't enough for freedom, but it's enough to get the attention of lots of potential suitors._ And her parents were milking that for all it's worth. Toph had early on realized that "important occasions" was code word for trying to set her up with _snobby rich prissy sons of_ noblemen. _Noble. Heh_, she thought. _That's a good one._ _They saw me as nothing more than a prize to claim. _Eventually, it became clear to her parents that this blind-dating system wasn't working (the irony was not lost on her) so when they had finally stopped bringing suitors, she thought they had finally given up. She thought they would let her pick someone for herself, not that she had anyone in mind (definitely not a _stupid clumsy incredibly strong_ Water Tribe warrior). She thought that she finally had a little bit of freedom back in her life. She thought wrong.

When she turned sixteen, legal marrying age in the Earth Kingdom, her parents had decided that they would just pick someone for her instead. And that's when she realized she had to high-tail it out of Gaoling. Again.

Nothing was really stopping her before. She could have left anytime she wanted. _Greatest Earthbender here._ But, like it or not, her parents were family and she couldn't just leave them. So she sucked it up and played along. She could handle keeping her Earthbending to a minimum when the estate had company. She could handle doubling up on her studies to make up for the time she had spent "gallivanting about." She could even almost tolerate having to wear dresses every single day. But arranged marriage is where she drew the line. Her parents didn't exactly have a good track record of finding good suitors for her. _And they didn't even tell me_. She had over-heard two servants taking about wedding preparations for "the Bei Fong daughter." It didn't take much for her to put two and two together. That night, she was gone. As soon as she felt that no one was outside her room, she changed from her smooth silken sleeping clothes to her traveling garb, grabbed her pack (filled with food, two pairs of her much-missed Blind Bandit outfit, and money), headed out to her balcony. She jumped the two stories down to the grass, softening the impact with a clenched fist and an inward flick of her wrist, and slipped effortlessly underneath the ground with the aid of her Earthbending. From there, it was only a few minutes of underground travel to the heart of the town.

Jumping up out of her tunnel, she relished the feeling of fresh earth on her skin, something her parents had abhorred which meant that her _healthy coating of earth_ was no more. She stomped her left foot to sense for anybody in the area and note buildings to give her an idea of her current orientation. Satisfied with the returning vibrations, she turned left and began walking in the direction she had identified from past visits as northward.

Before she came back home, cardinal directions meant nothing to her. Without the ability to see, she couldn't use a map to distinguish North from South. Her studies changed that. She had two tutors with her almost all day, constantly berating her with questions. _In which year did Avatar Kuruk face Koh? What is the square root of 625? Who founded the Northern Water Tribe? What is the natural habitat of the toucan puffin?_ On and on they went- history, math, politics, ecosystems and whatever other tortures they could come up with. That was about as much fun as stepping barefoot onto a boarcupine. And she knew what that was like all too well.

But as much as she hated it, which was a lot, she had learned a lot of valuable information. She learned about the geography of the Earth Kingdom and where everything was in relation to everything else. Gaoling was near the south and Ba Sing Se in the north east with the Si Wong Desert in between. Her tutors had taught her that the sun rose in the East and set in West. The only way she was able to learn directions was from the heat of the sun. If she knew whether it was morning or afternoon and could feel the rays of warmth, then that's all she would need to know which way she was facing. Unless it was night or midday and the sun was straight above her. But that doesn't count.

She also managed to learn a lot about what was going on around the world while trapped in her own little prison called home. Turns out not all the Air Nomads had been wiped out by the Fire Nation's onslaught and they were slowly trickling out of their hiding places in the mountain ranges. She was baffled, along with many others who didn't know the details, as to how they had survived the destruction of their temples and lived on for another hundred years avoiding the Fire Nation. And why stay in the mountains? She never got that either. King Kuei had returned to reclaim his throne as ruler of the Earth Kingdom with the Avatar backing him up. No one opposed him. The Southern Water Tribe was beginning to show signs of having more Waterbenders and was growing larger with help from its sister tribe and Fire Nation support. Hearing about the world also happened to be a way for her to about her friends.

Fire Lord Zuko was working on making economic agreements between the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes and was making reparations on the Air Temples. Avatar Aang was traveling with his sky bison around the world ensuring peaceful relations whenever he heard about a conflict. 100 years of war are hard to forget- Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens had a lot of skirmishes. And then there were the crazed Ozai-loyalists. Toph'd hear a story about them at least every month. Then the rumors came in about a Waterbending youth in the South Pole with skills to give Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe a challenge. _Sugar Queen no doubt._ When Toph had last seen Katara so long ago, the Waterbender had told her she was going back home to try and help her clan any way she could. To the extent of Toph's knowledge, she was probably been teaching anyone that showed potential for Waterbending. _I feel sorry for her students. Having to deal with her must be rough._ "Meathead" was the only one she hadn't heard anything about. If everything went according to plan (_him and his stupid plans_), he'd be in Ba Sing Se University now. They had all been on Appa because Twinkletoes was taking them all home from Ba Sing Se- Toph to Gaoling first _because I'm awesome (and okay, also because it was first on the way)_, Fan-girl to Kyoshi Island (_good riddance_) and then Sugar Queen and Captain Boomerang to the South Pole. Snoozles said that he was going with his sister to help rebuild his tribe and do whatever is needed of him. Then once things quiet down, he was going to go back to Ba Sing Se and enroll in the University there. A week before, the Mechanist and Sokka had been personally invited by the King to work at the university in the Engineering Sector. Having priorities to take care of in the South Pole, Sokka's offer was available for whenever he should return. The Mechanist and his son Teo had moved in to the Upper Ring where the King graciously provided housing for the two of them. She hadn't heard from any of them since. She couldn't really blame them too much. Writing letters to a blind girl wasn't exactly the best way to communicate. _I know they're all busy, but they could have at least tried to visit me once in a while, _she bitterly thought.

But now she was free. And free meant doing whatever she wanted. And what she wanted was an adventure. Not just any adventure. Oh no. This had to be an adventure to make up for years of solitude and boredom. This had to be an adventure fir for the world's greatest Earthbender. That was yesterday- the day she realized that adventures are no fun by yourself. She went through her (very short) list of friends, trying to decide on someone, anyone, who could join her. _Twinkletoes is traveling around the world stuck doing Avatar duties. Hmm, what if I asked to join him? He gets to travel a lot. _She had thought about it a bit more and realized that as much fun as traveling is, she much preferred it on the ground, rather than on Appa. She's flown enough to last the rest of her life. And she didn't think she could handle Twinkletoes himself for too long. He was too…sissy. He was cool and all, just not Toph-adventure worthy. _Sugar Queen is in the South Pole_. Toph shuddered. Not at the thought of how cold it would be there, but at the idea of being away from her element. Neither of those sounded too appealing. _Sparky's busy ruling the Fire Nation and all. Plus he doesn't seem like the type to enjoy a good adventure. _Toph still hadn't forgotten the last time she hung out with Zuko alone, when they were on Ember Island looking for Aang. He wasn't any fun. _Fan-girl?_ Suddenly, the idea of traveling alone didn't seem so bad. _Guess that leaves Meathead in Ba Sing Se. Yea, he's got his studies and all that but it's not like he can't take a break for a week or a month or two. Plus Iroh's there too. It's settled then. To Ba Sing Se! _


	2. Rushing Past

**I've gained so much more respect for writers after trying to write my own stories. I think I appreciate stories a bit more now after seeing how difficult it is for me.**

**On an unrelated note- I got a review! Woooooo.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. But if I did, Tokka would be canon. And there would be more episodes.**

The crimson sunset radiated harshly in the distance, reflecting on the ocean below which shimmered as if it were a sea of broken glass fragments rather than water- disturbed only by the dozens of fleeting dorsal fins, no doubt belonging to a pack of elephant koi traveling northward in search of warmer waters. The sky, clearly refusing to be outdone in magnificence by its aquatic competition, set itself ablaze with the fire of the sinking sun, the bright blue sky dramatically turning into a pale orange backdrop for the display of heavenly fireworks as the sparse clouds took on pink, orange, and saffron hues. The light drowned the entire left side of the traveling ship in a solid goldenrod hue, the last remnant of the suns fading glory before disappearing beyond the horizon and leaving nothing more than faint darkness and a slight chill where the weakening tendrils of heat had vanished only moments ago. Many of the passengers had come outside to appreciate the beautiful spectacle of nature for the last time on their week-long trek, but with the darkness fast approaching, and bringing the ocean cold with it, they all trudged back into their cabins. All but one.

Toph stayed out on the deck, ignoring the murmurs of how breath-taking the sky had been and how mesmerizing the shifting light on the waters' surface had been. Sunsets had never been very high on Toph's list of things she enjoyed; she liked them slightly more than rainbows, and she _hated_ rainbows. Sure she had never seen one, but that didn't mean she couldn't hate it. From what she could discern, rainbows were colorful, but worse than that, they were girly. That was all the reason she needed to hate them. But more than rainbows, she hated the water which had sparkled oh so prettily in front of her gazeless eyes. All rainbows could do were taunt her with their colors, but water could do much more than that. She couldn't see where water was. It was nothing more that a slight mist in her vision that rubbed up against the hard earth on which that she found support. Water robbed her of her vision, robbed her of her element. She was defenseless in water, something she had worked so hard and so long at preventing. Water had only threatened her life twice, but that was enough to keep her far away from it whenever possible.

The first time had been when Toph was three years old and still blind to the whole world. And she had loved baths. Her parents (really the servants) gave Toph a bath twice a day and she loved every minute of it. The warm water eliciting sighs of comfort, the splashes she made in the shallow water accompanying squeals of laughter, and the head messages from the servants lathering soap into her hair bringing a serene smile onto her face still adorned with her baby fat, giving her face a chubby appearance in comparison to the rest of her body. It should have been no surprise, then, that Toph memorized how to find her way to the bathroom, learned how to turn on the faucet (something only those as wealthy as the Bei Fongs could afford), and get inside of bath tub, still fully dressed, without any assistance. What she didn't know how to do, however, was turn off the faucet. She realized that the water level was rising dangerously high only after being in the tub for a minute and noticing that she had to keep lifting her hands higher and higher to splash. When she tried to get up and out of the tub, stepping on the raised rim of the tub, her foot slipped on the slick ceramic and she fell back, hitting her head on the rim of the opposite side and slipping into both unconsciousness and the water she was trying to escape. She was told later on that one of the maidservants was looking for her and found her limp body floating, eyes wide-open, mouth half-closed, and blue-faced. She had only survived because her parents had a Northern Water Tribe healer in the estate at all times should Toph ever injure herself. After her lungs had the water removed and her head-injury healed, she was left to rest until she woke up. It was from that point, that Toph's baths became less and less frequent (nobody wanted to give the shrieking traumatized toddler a wash anymore) and her "healthy coating of earth" slowly began to develop.

The second time water had nearly wretched her life away from her was during her travels with the Avatar in Serpent's Path. She was perfectly fine staying on her own little island of earth and vision until a thundering crash came feet behind her, destroying half of the makeshift column convincing her otherwise. She inched over to where everyone else had run out of her vision and onto the ice bridge she knew (hoped) was there. Probing with her foot, she felt the cold, shuddered for a moment (from fear or cold she couldn't tell), and proceeded to side-shuffle along the bridge. Her world had consisted of nothing more than the ice connected to her feet and the voice of her best friend beckoning her closer to where he was. And in that moment, she had wanted nothing more than be right beside him, holding on to his warm muscled arm, comforted by the light steady heartbeat pulsing through him. And then another crash and everything was gone again, except for the rush of cold water rising over hear head. She remembers her voice yelling for help, Sokka's responding, and then being lifted by strong masculine arms. She was so relieved, she couldn't help but thank Sokka for saving her by giving him an extremely un-Toph-like kiss. And then her heart sank more quickly than stone when the voice beside her head sounded a lot like Suki. She never spoke of that moment again.

But now Toph was surrounded by water once more, protected only from sinking by the ship she had willingly come aboard. _It was the only logical way_ she convinced herself. _There's no way to go through the desert and it would take too long to walk around. It was the only way. _Her self-convincing mantra did little to calm her nerves and quell her sea-sickness. She was just thankful that this week-long nightmare of sea-faring was about to be over. They would land a few miles away from the outer ring of Ba Sing Se, she could cover it in a few hours, and then she could take the Earth-train to inner Ba Sing Se. And then… well she hadn't decided exactly what to do after that. She was nervous about seeing Sokka again, worrying that he might not even be there and this whole trip would have been a waste. _What if he changed? He was fifteen when I last "saw" him. He's eighteen now. What if he doesn't remember me? _Toph refused to let her thoughts take her deeper into the abyss of hopelessness. She would remain strong.

The young bender sighed loudly before shifting her weight off of the shoulder leaning into the cold metal wall and back onto her bare feet, which stood on a wooden plank. She had originally come outside hours ago to see if she could get some quiet from all the loud bustling inside the ship. She could hear less, but her feet had brought back more vibrations. Thinking for a moment, she had returned to her room, removed an unused wooden shelf from her dresser, stepped outside once more, and placed the wood under her feet, appreciating the sudden silence it brought. Shivering from the cold, she stepped off the wood, bringing another tingle up her spine as bare feet connected with the icy steel floor. Picking up the plank, she returned to her quarters, sighed once more, and prepared for bed. _Tomorrow will be better. Maybe._


	3. Heading into Trouble

**Today, I shall be a rebel and forego the disclaimer. Because I'm awesome like that.**

**Part III of Witness to Adventure. Enjoy. Or not. It's your choice really.**

The sentry raised his damp sleeve to wipe away the already-new beads of sweat appearing on his forehead as the midday sun beat harshly upon his conical helmet and the expansive land of sand and dirt which he was dutifully watching from his position on the outer wall. Everywhere except the roads to his far right was completely barren, as always, save a single distant poof of sand, the tell-tale sign of a crew of Sandbenders and its glider that he had seen hundreds of times before. The watchman, idly observing the only disruption in his entire field of vision, thought something was slightly off about it but couldn't decide what. After watching it for a few minutes (there was little else to do alone on a 100 meter tall wall) he realized what was bothering him about the quickly moving dust cloud- it was heading towards him.

Normally, the benders would only travel through the desert, never approaching the Impenetrable City. There had been very few arguments between the two, but the Sandbenders nonetheless were a prideful group, determined not to get assistance from the city that had denied it to them during the war.

The man watched as the distance between him and the benders shortened until, to his surprise, he saw that there was no glider supporting the crew- nor was there a crew for that manner; all he could discern was a single person running – _running? At that speed? Impossible! I'm seeing things, right?- _straight towards the wall. He jumped over and grabbed the side of the wall, his Earthbending aiding him in slowing his descent. The curious guard waited for it to slow down so he could approach and discover what was truly going on. As it neared, he realized that the runner, donning Earthkingdom clothing he noticed, was actually standing atop two mound of earth connected near their peaks and were nearly triple his height. And it was approaching the wall at a reckless speed. Yelling loudly to indicate the necessity that this person slow down –_What are they? Blind? Can't they see the wall?-_, he received no response. Needless to say, he was shocked when he noticed that the runner was not only **not** slowing down, but was in fact speeding up.

Fearing he was about to be crushed by a moving hill, he stomped his foot down and forcefully lifted his arms inwards and upwards in front of his face, raising a half-cone of earth to protect him. He waited for the sound of contact but only heard a whooshing sound above him. Looking up, he barely had enough time to see a flying raven-haired girl quickly sink into the wall head-first as if it were a waterfall rather than solid rock. Doubting what he was actually witnessing, he simply stared agape as bare feet followed where the rest of the body had been moments before, swiftly disappearing behind rock, leaving no trace of its fleeting existence.

After several dumbstruck moments, the sentry Earthbended away the wall where the mysterious being had just deftly soared into. Finding nothing beyond normal rocks and dirt, he came to the conclusion that intense heat and copious amounts of previously drunken cactus juice were not be mixed.

As soon as Toph slipped through the other side of the stone wall, she let out a sigh of exhaustion and smiled her signature Blind Bandit smirk. She had enjoyed the thrill of jumping through solid rock and scaring that man, but using Earthbending to travel the several-hour trip from the docks to the outer ring of the large city had taken quite a toll on the teen. At first, she had enjoyed riding the giant waves of earth- being able to run free once more, yet never lose contact with her element, powerfully looming above all the passersby who had made the mistake of taking a road that she decided to travel upon- but as the beach she had just left continued to recede to the edge of her vision, she had found her favorite method of travel to be a bit more tiresome than she remembered and had resorted back to old-fashioned walking until she had sensed the large city and its many vibrations.

As soon as she made it onto the monorail leading into the Inner Ring, her mind was already set to getting a nice cup of green tea (or ginseng, that was pretty good too) from Iroh. He was one of the few people she had no nickname for- not because she couldn't think of one, but because she had too much respect for the old man. He was more like her uncle than her friend. An uncle who gave really good advice and equally impressive tea.

After letting her mind wander for the duration of the monorail ride, Toph felt the train slow down and stop, finally arriving at the Upper Ring, home of the Jasmine Dragon. She excitedly jumped off the train and felt her surroundings. She knew that the tea shop was near the center of this rich area, not far from the King's Palace. Finding the right direction, the young bender headed off to get her tea.

**Sorry if my writing seems a bit, I dunno, disconnected, I guess. Or if it ever feels like my writing is doing more of a setting rant than actually telling a story. Still feel kinda meh about this one. Next one will have Sokka! Hopefully.**

**This is a secret message. Congratulations on finding it. Two points and a cookie for you. **


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